DO YOU WANT TO DOMINATE PINTEREST & MAKE IT YOUR NO.1 TRAFFIC SOURCE?

Many people with blogs constantly thrive for more traffic. Convinced they’ve tried all the marketing techniques they could find. If bloggers followed a few simple and really effective marketing techniques, then they would probably find that there is a willing audience just dying to read the content that they spend so much time creating.

If you plan on reading the sub headings and skipping the rest of the content because you’ve ‘read it all before’, at the very least, make sure you read the tips provided under each heading. Those tips are THE secret behind the proven success of these marketing techniques. They’re what helped me get over 1000 views in my first month with a brand new blog, and it doubled in the second month.

Here are a few blog marketing techniques that should get most blogs getting reasonable traffic in a short space of time. For example, in my first month, I got 1000 page views. Which is a pretty special number for a brand spanking new blog.

1. Narrow Your Focus:

Even if you’re starting your blog in a saturated market (like my blog about blogging) you can still stand out. You just need to KNOW for certain, WHO you are talking to. If you have no idea how to define your niche, check out this post 5 Niche Choosing Strategies If You’re Entrepreneurially Challenged. Or, if you have no idea how to determine your target workbook, see this post Why Your Target Audience Is More Important Than Your Spouse and be sure to download the workbook.

2. Get Active In Blogging Forums:

When you are in forums, be sure to leave thoughtful replies and DO NOT SPAM forums by saying “check out my blog”. Join conversations, be natural and helpful. Be sure to add a custom signature and add your blog name (usually you can add it as a link).

People are naturally curious, especially if you are helpful and they are interested in finding out how else you can help them. Which is why they are one of the most excellent marketing techniques that people constantly share.

If the forum you post in is also to do with a similar topic to your blog, then you will probably get repeat readers from it! Be sure to try and find the most popular forums in the niche you are in. Head over to Google and do a quick search, e.g., ‘Crochet forum’ or ‘beauty forum UK’.

Try to find forums with at least a few thousand active members and most importantly go to forums where your ideal customer will hang out.

My blog is about Craft Blogging, so I will want to try and go where craft bloggers or crafters spend time.

Also, make sure that you read and follow the rules of the board or you could end up being kicked out.

3. Blog Comments Are One Of The Most Effective Marketing Techniques:

Commenting on other people’s blogs is one of the most effective ways to connect with people. The most important things you need to know before you start commenting on blogs:

Do not comment on the same blog every day, maybe once a week at most.

Don’ leave your blog URL in the signature of your comment, that’s spammy because it’s obvious you are doing it for the blog visits.

Instead of leaving your URL in the comment signature, make your name look like your first name and blog name. E.g, Claire – Start A Craft Blog. This is something that I’ve done since 2010 when I started my craft blog. It seemed like the obvious way for me to continually comment on my friend’s blogs and it will let them know immediately who it was. Curiosity tends to kick in, and people will visit directly. Commenting Etiquette

In most cases, you can put a link back to your blog, and people do follow these links. It is also good to target blogs similar to yours, or are blogs where your target reader would visit because then you will get targeted readers who are more likely to continue reading your blog. See why it’s one of my favourite marketing techniques?

4. Optimising Your Blog:

Optimising your blog for search engines is ESSENTIAL! Improved search engine rankings often lead to increased organic blog traffic. Meaning, when people search for target keywords and your blog shows up in the search results people might visit.

5. Keep blogging!

Nobody will return to a blog that is updated weekly or only occasionally. You need to add more content at least once per day, especially in the early stages of getting your blog noticed. This is hugely important.

This is SO important because a blog which is interesting is much more likely to not only maintain blog traffic but also generate new traffic. Not to mention the fact that if you don’t update your blog on a regular basis, Google will notice and bump you down the algorithm.

6. What is a bookmarking network?

A bookmarking network is somewhere you can share your posts or bookmarks with others. You submit your blog story to the network, which allows people to vote for it, comment on it or both. More popular stories that receive a certain number of votes or likes tend to get promoted to the front page.

The more popular your post the more it will be put in front of more people’s eyes depending on the network.

7. Use Linky Parties:

If you blog about home decor, recipes, crafts and similar topics you will easily find Linky Parties to link up to. Linky parties are one of my personal favourite marketing techniques and they’re especially helpful if I get a project featured.

What is a linky party and how is it one of those effective marketing techniques?

A linky party is when the author of a blog invites the blog readers to link up their blog posts on the same topic using a special tool which displays those posts as clickable thumbnail links.

For a list of all the linky parties I submit to as a craft blogger, please click here.

Anyone can take part in a Linky Party, and there are usually some rules to consider before taking part, such as, are you prepared to link back to the party if you submit a post?

Linky Parties have the potential to drive an enormous amount of traffic to your blog because usually, it’s a LOT of bloggers sharing their content. For the most traffic, you want to get featured by the hosts. A feature usually means that on the next linky party, the top 5 posts from the previous party are all shared with a full-size image, link and tidbit of info.

If you have a new site, then this is one of the best ways to get yourself out there in front of readers who could be interested in what you have to say.

8. Why use social networks like you’re an addict?

Sometimes you come up with an AMAZING blog story. You know it will drive you a tonne of traffic, but you have a problem….

As my mum always says, “you need to bring the mountain to Mohammed”.

First and foremost social networks have BILLIONS of users, and they like to share. Especially if the topic is relevant to their fans, friends or it makes them look smart.

Sharing content on social media means that whoever looks at your post is one click away from your blog. If you add a strong Call To Action (commonly known as a CTA), people are more likely to click.

The majority of social network sites with the most users are free to use; you can sign up and set up a profile within about 15 minutes and start making friends.

A good story, useful post, something hilarious or something insanely clever (like using wine corks on the end of knitting needles to keep your work safe) can spread across the network like wild fire.

If your story does not get to the front page of an individual network, you can always submit another one. In most cases, there is no limit on some stories you can submit.

Some social networks have excellent Google page rank (PR), and they are usually returned when someone searches for something on Google. If you happened to have added your post to Pinterest and added the right keywords, chances are high that your post will appear.

Tips and tricks to make the most out of each social share:

An interesting, eye catching image is often a must. Not to mention a great story or bit of advice. Your main target is to get shared again and again. You need to convince your followers and their followers to share! As I mentioned previously, hilarious, adorable, down right genius posts tend to do the best.

Download your free guide that teaches how to create Pins with the potential to go Viral.

The more images and posts you can submit the better. If you want a steady flow of traffic to your blog then you will need a steady flow of submissions.

If that sounds overwhelming, head to a site like Fiverr where you can hire a VA for as little as $5 and get them to do the submissions for you. I use a VA to submit to crafty linky parties every single week. You can even use a VA to participate in Facebook groups for you.

Enjoy your experience. Social media is way more fun than adding links to bookmarking sites -snore-, although you can hire a VA to do that too.

9. Keeping Your Blog Interesting

By creating content that you research BEFORE you write. I cannot stress that enough. You need to make sure what you are writing is what people need or want to know. If it isn’t interesting then nobody is going to want to share it. Ok, I’ve changed my mind, before commenting, making sure you create quality content is one of the most effective marketing techniques! If your content is amazing then it’s practically BEGGING to be shared!

Parting Words:

The best you can hope for is that an influencer or blog owner with a large following recommends your blog to their followers, these new blog visitors are also likely to recommend the blog to others if your content is relevant to them.

Blogging can be a hobby or it can be your full-time job. Whether the money that you earn comes from an AdSense campaign, affiliate marketing or digital products. One of the key elements to maximising this profit is by driving even more, traffic to your blog.

If you are convinced that you’ve done all of these marketing techniques and they still aren’t working, ask yourself these questions:

As a disabled woman with chronic medical conditions who has built a successful, profitable craft blog; I want to help other women realise their potential, pursue their passions and make money doing it. Build your craft blog or optimize your selling potential by building a blog for your business! Be sure to join us in the Facebook Group

There is so much valuable information on here! Thank you so much for sharing I’ve bookmarked this page so I can come back into it while I’m working on my blog! I never thought about how commenting could be a great networking technique! But now it seems so simple haha.

I just love how in depth your posts are Claire! You’re one of the few bloggers that give details when it comes to growing a blog. If you ever want to guest post on my blog, I would love to have you!Tiffany Griffin recently posted…5 Tips for Treating Your Blog Like a Business

Hey Nikhila! Thank you for taking the time to comment 🙂 I wanted to give as much detail as I possibly could without writing way too much :p I thought I had found a happy medium. You can always bookmark it and come back to do the steps.

You’re definitely right about blog commenting. I’ve started using that method about 3 months ago on a regular basis. It’s not only helped me build some great blogging friendships.

But I’ve also managed to land 8 guest posts because of taking the time to comment and share other people’s content.

So while it does take quite a bit of time to comment on other bloggers blogs’, it is definitely worth it.

However, you want to make sure that you’re taking the time to leave valuable comments that add value to the post. Otherwise, your comment will get deleted. I know that’s what I do to people’s comments who just spam my blog.

Thanks for sharing these tips, I know that they will help so many people start driving more traffic to their blog.

That’s an excellent point! Of course, the spammy like ones that offer very little substance are difficult to navigate and hard to respond to as well. I need to go out and make commenting a priority. I’ve been prioritising Facebook groups but I think I should concentrate on quality traffic. 🙂 Thanks for the reminder.

Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment 🙂 I know I can rarely be bothered :p

great tips some of which I all ready take part in and new ideas as well. Always looking for great blog post to see what is going on today
thanks for sharing
come see us at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

Hi Michelle! For some blogs they may well be but they are important for staying visible and if a post has a lot of quality comments, they’re recognised by Google and shows Google that you have good content. Not to mention the visibility and brand recognition when you are popping up on peoples blogs. Personally, I love return commenters and try to return the favour when I have time 🙂

I have this saved so that I can pause & read. I have not had a spare moment…just hosted my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary this past weekend. Thanks for sharing at last week’s reader tip tuesday. Hope to see you at this week’s party xo

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